If You Permit It, You Promote It!

If You Permit it, You Promote it!!!!

This phrase hit home for me, as I read about a recent incident at a high school state soccer playoff game in Minnesota. Admittedly, I have a son that played with his team in a state soccer playoff game, so I’m familiar with the way that “one and done” games can become heated. When I read the report that some student fans were taunting diverse players by calling them names of “Asian” food and telling them to go back to their own country, I was devastated.

Parents have contacted the Minnesota High School League and the schools involved to lodge a formal complaint, but I’m wondering about what was done during the game to stop the blatant bias treatment of the players. One of the parents even said that the fans didn’t need to taunt the players because the team was winning. Devastating. The idea that it would be understandable to hurl microaggressions, if the fans were upset that they were losing sums up the everyday experience of diverse people in our society.

As a parent, I want to believe that an educational environment would be a safe haven for all students. As an equity champion and an educator, I understand that this is not the case.

I want to know what other spectators were doing when they heard those insults shouted at the athletes.

I want to know what school officials were thinking when they heard those insults shouted at the athletes.

I want to know what the game officials were doing when they heard those insults shouted at the athletes.

At Kinect, we ascribe by the phrase, if you permit it, you promote it. We ALL have the responsibility to intervene when we witness bias or microaggressions occurring. Never before has it been more important for all citizens to assume the responsibility of ensuring a welcoming and inclusive living and learning environment for everyone.

The students involved need to know how their behavior reflected upon them, on their parents and on their school. They need to be taught about what it means to be racist. This situation is not an anomaly. It isn’t about a particular school. It is about our society and it will continue to happen – again and again.

As educators, we need to infuse education and awareness about cultural diversity into every facet of the learning experience. Cultural competency is not a nicety, it’s a necessity. If you have diversity and equity training on your “to-do list” and haven’t acted on it, make it your top priority.

Let this situation at a high school soccer game become an urgent reminder that now is the time to train your staff and educate your students.

What is Passive Education?

Our clients ask us how to send a message to a learning community that inclusion is a part of the fabric of the institution. It’s a loaded question and it requires an intentional approach to every day actions. You really can’t overlook the power of subtle messaging and how it creates a theme that diversity is embraced and equity is a mainstay of the learning environment.

Begin by doing a physical audit of your facilities.

1. What kinds of pictures and art are hanging in your buildings?

2. What are your educational values and are they posted for all to see?

3. Do you have various languages that represent your student composition posted – bilingual signage?

4. Are rules of behavior posted in the school?

5. What kind of food do you serve at parent meetings?

6. What is on the menu for children at lunch?

7. What kinds of pictures are on your website?

8. What kinds of pictures are in print materials?

9. Do you post a welcome sign in various languages in the main office? In the main entryway?

10. Are all of your facilities accessible?

Create an “Equity Team”.

Ask for volunteers from your school to engage in a physical equity walk. If you have a representative team that looks at these questions (teachers, maintenance staff, clerical, administration, students), you will create a group of ambassadors that can make change and bring things to your attention.

Make a To Do List

Once you uncover change items, make a list. Some of the issues may be more challenging to fix, in terms of time and funding. Others may be quick fix items that you can take care of immediately.

Here are Some Things that You Can Do Right Away!

1. Send out a cultural education email to your staff each week to help them to become more culturally competent. Do the same for students. Watch for our new resource: “Inclusion in an Instant” that is coming out soon. This toolkit will be a difference maker for school leaders.

2. Post passive education posters around your school. Involve your students in making inclusion posters with a contest or use our White Board Passive Education Series to provide a poster for each classroom.

3. Create a backside for your name badges so that your team is a walking testimony to your commitment to inclusion, as a school. Try out our Equity Badge Cards as a way to hit the ground running.

Show your commitment to equity with a message on the back side of your name badge!

BIAS Prevention RX

Bias incidents are on the rise. In 2018, the state of New Jersey recorded 569 bias incidents in K-20 school systems - the highest number since 2011. Bias makes an educational environment impossible to navigate for the victims and teaches others that hate is ok. The idea that bias incidents have become commonplace behavior in the classroom and at school events is a frightening proposition for teachers and school administrators. Like so many other schools, Lincoln High School in San Diego was the site of a racial incident at a football game on September 13. There's no question that a large event provides even more opportunity for situations like this to escalate and in this digital age, the world is told in real-time. Administrators must do their due diligence to investigate reported bias incidents and follow protocol to respond to the evidence, but what about the everyday microaggressions that haunt the experience of underrepresented students? Educational institutions must create comprehensive plans to educate all community members about what it means to be inclusive. Cultural competency and behavioral expectations that emphasize empathy is critical to real progress. A reactionary approach will only serve as a time sucker. This doesn't mean that bias incidents shouldn't be handled. What it does mean is that school officials must infuse multiculturalism into every facet of the school experience: training, orientation, publications, decorations, curriculum, traditions, etc. Bias prevention isn't about one training or one cultural program. It's about a commitment to embracing and including ALL - ALL OF THE TIME. 

When educators talk to us about what they should do, we offer a Bias Prevention RX. Training for staff.

Training for students.

An Equity Lens for all facets of the educational environment.

We use our Equity Rubric as a tool to help institutions learn more about their climate and their approach to inclusion.

The most important advice:

Don't wait until a bias incident happens to begin working on inclusion. DO IT NOW!!